“The state government is planning to acquire schools managed by civic bodies and bring them under the ambit of Education Department,” said Primary and Secondary Education Minister Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of programme here, Kageri said the purpose behind this was to provide quality education to needy students. “There is ambiguity concerning recruitment in the schools managed by local bodies. Also, the infrastructure and financial viability of these schools are worrisome. We are seriously considering taking over these schools,” Kageri said.
DISE statistics show that the state has 69 schools managed by local bodies, with 16,394 students enrolled from class one to ten. Out of 1,056 sanctioned teaching posts in these schools, only 736 teachers are working. Kageri believes that this gap could be filled by getting these schools under the Education Department.
'No commitment from Centre'
The minister lashed out at the Centre for keeping mum over financial assistance to reimburse schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act. “We have been asking the Centre time and again for financial assistance. It looks like the Centre is not committed. If RTE has to be successful, the Centre has to pitch in,” he said, adding “The state government could manage to reimburse schools this year with difficulty.”
R Govinda report
Kageri said the implementation of R Govinda Committee’s report on structural reorganisation of school education in the state would take about 2-3 years. “We have already conveyed this to the Centre. It will take that much time as we have to first take teachers into our confidence who seem to have some premonitions about the report,” he said.